


the dance we do

by civillove



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: Sebastian picks Blaine up from a bad blind date, causing him to wonder why Blaine’s even going on these ridiculous dates in the first place.--Sebastian almost rolls off the couch when his phone begins to vibrate on the coffee table. He sighs, running a hand over his face because fuck he hadn’t meant to fall asleep out here. Working on a few depositions seemed like a good idea at the time, when he had all the energy from after dinner and a newfound confidence he could get it done within the hour. So much for that. He’d just laid down for a few minutes to rest his eyes and—He reaches for his phone, blindly picking it up, not bothering to look at the time or who’s calling.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 93





	the dance we do

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me in the shower one day and I figured why not *u* enjoy!

Sebastian almost rolls off the couch when his phone begins to vibrate on the coffee table. He sighs, running a hand over his face because _fuck_ he hadn’t meant to fall asleep out here. Working on a few depositions seemed like a good idea at the time, when he had all the energy from after dinner and a newfound confidence he could get it done within the hour. So much for that. He’d just laid down for a few minutes to rest his eyes and—

He reaches for his phone, blindly picking it up, not bothering to look at the time or who’s calling.

“Where have you _been?”_ Blaine asks, not giving him a moment to say ‘hello’ or make a grunt that sounds like a greeting.

He frowns, pulling the phone away from his face, “It’s three in the morning.”

“I know what time it is,” Blaine scoffs, sounding wound-up despite the late hour. Or early hour, given the preference.

Sebastian pulls his body into a sitting position, running his fingers through his hair. He blinks, trying to get his bearings—he fell asleep on the couch, it’s _too early_ for someone to be calling him, and it’s not like he’s missed any plans he’s made with Blaine so why is he so upset?

“What’s going on?” Sebastian yawns, his hand moving from his hair to rub over his face.

Despite Blaine barely giving him a word in edgewise before, now he’s uncomfortably quiet. Sebastian gives him a moment and wakes himself up further by standing and going into his kitchen to get a glass of water. It sounds like the city in his ear and what is Blaine doing out at this time of night?

“I’m never letting Santana set me up on blind dates again.”

Sebastian winces, leaning against the counter. “That bad?”

Blaine makes a noise, like he doesn’t even have the words to describe it. “I’m definitely not speaking to her for _at least_ a month, Sebastian, she set me up with a _taxidermist.”_

A snort leaves Sebastian’s lips before he can even stop it, quickly covering his mouth because _damn._

“It’s not funny!” screeches into his ear and he has to pull the phone away because he swears his eardrum starts vibrating.

“I know, it’s definitely not.” Sebastian says, very serious, once he’s sure he can get the words out so there’s no humor to his tone.

Honestly, Santana’s the worst. He gets her point that Blaine should put himself back out there since divorcing Kurt and that it’s been a few months but…a taxidermist, really? He can tell Blaine’s frustrated just by his next few sentences; he’s tired of going on dates, especially ones that leave him far worse off than when he started.

“You know how I feel about animals—we literally got back to his place and it was like Pet Sematary.” A shudder caps the end of Blaine’s words, “And then why I tried to leave, he started getting defensive and pushy. I know how to handle myself but—”

His voice cuts off for a moment and that’s when Sebastian’s shoulders straighten out, just a little, because it sounds like Blaine’s trying to compose himself. He’s not just annoyed about a bad blind date; he’s upset. The taller bites down on his lower lip, glancing at the tiled pattern of the counter before tracing it with his fingers.

“B,” He says gently, “Are you okay?”

A soft huff leaves the other’s lips, “I’m just so done with this,” Blaine sniffles, “You know? Like where are all the decent guys in New York?”

“It’s a big city but I don’t think there’s many decent guys left, except for one,” Sebastian points out, hoping he can at least make Blaine smile.

“I dunno whether that compliment makes me feel better or worse.” Blaine says, voice a bit shaky but he doesn’t sound as overwhelmed as before.

“Better, hopefully. I’ve been trying to get my hands in your pants ever since I met you—even though they’re practically painted on your body.” He purposely lays it on a little thick, mostly because Blaine huffs out a fond noise while saying _you’re ridiculous,_ a wet laugh following.

And while that might have been Sebastian’s intention on day one, he’s grown a lot in his friendship with Blaine since then. Sex is important but it’s not just about that anymore. Sebastian understands Blaine’s hesitation in figuring out what’s between them, in taking the next steps—it wasn’t too long ago that Sebastian thought _all_ he wanted was sex with no strings.

They never really take the time to talk about it, even though it’s clear that there’s something _there—_ ever since Dalton, ever since they first laid eyes on one another. And yet they keep circling eachother, caught up in a rhythm of patterned foot movements, like performing _Uptown Girl_ and _Dark Side_ all over again. A never changing choreography, the dance that they do.

So close but never together.

“Damnit,” Blaine interrupts his thoughts, a sigh filtering into the receiver directly after, “I think I dropped my MetroCard at that guy’s place. I can’t find it.”

“Where are you?” Sebastian asks, already moving to grab his shoes to slip on at the front door.

“Brooklyn,” And Blaine sounds less than thrilled about that. “I really don’t want to get an Uber back into Manhattan. Can you…I know it’s so late, I’m sorry, but can you come pick me up?”

“I charge significantly less than an Uber,” Sebastian teases, grabbing his coat on the way out of his apartment. “Drop a pin, I’ll be there soon.”

\--

When Sebastian pulls in front of a closed café to pick Blaine up, he looks cold and miserable. He gets into the car and wraps his arms around himself. Sebastian turns up the heat and bites his tongue on any taxidermy jokes that want to fall out of his mouth because now is really not the time. He gets a quick glance at how good Blaine looks tonight, despite the date going sour—they obviously went to some sort of club because he smells like cologne and the slightest tinge of alcohol, curls remolded with a little bit of sweat, black jeans paired with a form fitting red polo. A waste, really.

“So…tonight was a dead end, huh?” Sebastian can’t quite help himself, a soft smile tugging the corners of his mouth.

The looks Blaine gives him is venomous, “I don’t understand…how anyone is supposed to have sex with that guy. Ever. Like, there’s so many _eyes_ just staring—” He shakes his head, shuddering as he squeezes the insides of his elbows.

“Maybe he’s into voyeurism.” Sebastian jokes, before, “You _wanted_ to have sex with him?”

“No,” Blaine says quickly, “But I’m just saying.”

He purses his lips, the drive easy and comfortable given the lack of cars at this hour even in a city as busy as New York. That should change once they get further into the stitchwork of Manhattan’s streets.

“He’s probably good with his hands,” Sebastian counters, “You know, the whole stuffing thing—”

“Sebastian,” Blaine says suddenly and his voice sounds weird in the darkness of the car, “Stop. Seriously.”

The taller steals a look at him, meeting his hazel eyes very briefly before he has to put his gaze back onto the road. He clears his throat and keeps his mouth zipped, finding a more comfortable position against his seat given the frost suddenly building up in the space between them.

There’s this look in Blaine’s eyes that defines the gravity of how much he means the words coming out of his mouth so Sebastian clamps down. Giving his off-handed commentary about taxidermy dude was not worth upsetting Blaine more than he already is.

As he turns onto the street of his apartment because it’s closer than Blaine’s and it’s late, Sebastian remembers something Blaine said on the phone about how this guy had gotten…pushy. Sebastian knows that he’s more than capable of handling himself but he doesn’t like that _feeling_ either—that sickening squish that’s sitting in the pit of his stomach.

His hands squeeze the steering wheel, suddenly one question bubbling up to the surface when he parks the car. “Did he hurt you?”

The question seems to startle Blaine, either because he wasn’t expecting it or because the car’s been silent for a while. He blinks and takes off his seatbelt, turning his head to look at Sebastian before shaking his head,

“No,” He swallows, “He didn’t like being rejected and got in my face, tried to nudge me back against a wall but, I can take care of myself. I don’t think he was expecting me to bring my knee up and hit him where it hurts so, he quickly let me go.”

Sebastian feels something nauseating slither down his windpipe that feels a lot like _jealousy_ and another emotion he can’t name. His fingers flex against the wheel before he pulls the keys from the ignition,

“You should have told me that sooner.”

A laugh struggles out of Blaine’s chest, “Why? I don’t need you to defend my honor. I’m fine.” He runs his fingers through the front of his hair, messing with his curls to give his hands something to do. Sebastian thinks he can see the light tremble there, but it might be the trick of the streetlight.

“Besides, I’ve seen you hit someone before and—”

Sebastian groans, throwing his head back a moment because apparently he’s never going to live that terrible moment down. “Okay, in my defense, that guy snuck up on me at a bar, when he was _drunk—_ I had no time to think about form.”

“—your technique is outrageously terrible,” Blaine continues anyways, over the end of Sebastian’s sentence as they both get out of the car, “My knight in shining idiot who breaks his own hand trying to rescue me when I can handle things on my own.”

“Never say chivalry is dead, Anderson.” Sebastian throws back and holds the door open to the apartment complex for him before walking inside.

They take the elevator up to his place and he can tell Blaine’s feeling particularly tense the way he’s holding his shoulders but he’s not sure what else he can offer. He’s told Blaine a million times to stop taking blind dates from people who don’t really know him, despite them having good intentions (except for Santana, who just likes to fuck with Blaine for whatever reason). The semi-decent ones never leave him with much to be desired and the bad ones leave him like this—upset, frustrated and fidgeting with anger that he forces down because Blaine’s convinced himself that he’s a burden when he shares too many of his emotions.

Sebastian assumes Kurt is to thank for that one.

When they walk into Sebastian’s apartment, Blaine makes a beeline for the bathroom, closing the door and effectively shutting Sebastian out. He sighs and looks to the ceiling for a moment before closing the door and toeing off his shoes. He decides that cleaning up his work is completely useless given how tired he is and there’s only a few more hours before his alarm is set to go off. Luckily, he can hit the snooze a few times before tugging himself out of bed and to work.

He wanders into his bedroom, listening for a few moments as the sink runs. He has a bad feeling Blaine’s more upset than he leads on, the sound of the water muffling any noise behind the doorframe. He stands in the center of his bedroom, waiting, torn between knocking on the door and leaving Blaine alone.

Sebastian moves to at least change his jeans into sweatpants, pulling down the sheets on his bed before his friend exits the bathroom. Blaine’s face is a soft pink and his hair is slightly wet, curls thick and wild on his forehead from running his hands through it. He looks up at Sebastian, those hazel eyes a darkened honey as he moves to sit on the corner of the mattress.

Blaine’s definitely been crying and there’s this knot that appears in Sebastian’s chest at the thought of him trying to keep it from him, behind closed doors. Regardless of the red rimmed eyes, the wet eyelashes, and the slight pink tip to his nose—Sebastian’s never seen anyone so beautiful.

“Thanks for getting me.” Blaine says after a moment and Sebastian shrugs his one shoulder.

“I’m slowly making up for all the times I called you at Scandals to drive me home.”

A ghost of a smile tugs on the corners of Blaine’s mouth, like he hasn’t thought of that in a long time. “You’re just lucky you never threw up in my car, otherwise I’m not sure this rekindled friendship would exist.”

Sebastian hums and approaches him carefully, reaching his hand out to wind his fingers in a few of his curls. “Like you could get rid of me so easily.”

Blaine’s quiet for a few minutes, tilting his chin so that Sebastian’s hand brushes along the side of his face. It’s a gentle invitation, one that the taller takes, running his thumb down his strong jawline and tracing back up along his cheekbone.

“I’m fine,” Blaine repeats, like a broken record, one that’s getting harder and harder for Sebastian to believe.

“It’s also okay if you’re not.”

Blaine closes his eyes, dipping his nose and lips into his palm and places a soft kiss there. Sebastian smooths his thumb over his eyebrow, his gaze mapping out the simple beauty marks on Blaine’s face.

“Given your track record,” Sebastian says eventually, pulling his touch back, “You should really quit the blind dates.”

Despite the fact that he should take the comment with a grain of salt, Blaine bristles, looking up at him with an expression he can’t quite read. His jaw works for a moment before he shakes his head, “I don’t like being single. What’s so wrong with trying to explore and…and find someone to spend my time with? Who else am I supposed to go out on dates with? _You?”_

Alright, that one hits a little below to belt. Sebastian bites down on his tongue to prevent something nasty from slipping through his teeth, something from his old ways that always seems to curl in his belly when he least expects it—that intention to hurt, to better someone with his words.

“What, like that’s the worst idea?” He scoffs, trying not to sound offended.

Blaine cuts off the end of his sentence with a strangled whine, digging his fingers into his eyes as he bows his head. “Please don’t tease me, Sebastian, not after the night I’ve had.”

The taller blinks, confused, and waits until Blaine pulls his hands away from his face. “I’m not fucking with you, I’m serious.”

Blaine gets up from the bed but doesn’t meet his gaze, moving to take his jeans off and toss them aside so that he’s just in his polo shirt. He looks down at himself, makes a face, and goes to take a t-shirt out of Sebastian’s drawer like it’s the most mundane thing he’s ever done. And honestly, how is this not proving his point? They practically act like they’re dating anyway—what would really change? Sex? Real dates? Filling obligations, like work parties or family dinners, with the other as a more-than-friend thing?

After he’s got Sebastian’s shirt on, a little longer than his own as it brushes the beginning of his thighs, Blaine turns to look at him, “You’ve…” He pauses, trying to figure out how best to word this, “You’ve never even had a boyfriend before, you don’t date.”

“You’ve never asked.” Sebastian throws back at him, his inflection crystal clear as if he’d said the words— _I would if it was you._

Blaine runs a hand through his curls, sitting down on the bed again and rests his back against the headboard. Sebastian feels like this is the wrong time to have this conversation, on the night of another failed date that’s left Blaine aggravated and upset. Or maybe it’s the perfect time to change the dance number, to reconfigure their steps, to stop the same old, stupid routine.

Blaine lets out a slow breath, a string of soft hope noticeable around his words “So you’re saying…if I asked you out, you’d say yes?”

Sebastian pulls back the sheets and crawls into bed, resting on his side as he takes a long look at him. Blaine Anderson, someone that he _knew_ he wanted to be with the moment he saw him. And maybe teenage Sebastian never pictured this, years later, sharing a bed in his New York apartment after a spoiled date, a true friendship with someone he’s hurt and found all over again.

“Not right now,” Sebastian tells him and quickly follows with, “I mean, not while you’ve still got taxidermy dude fresh in your mind and it’s nearing four AM. I want you to ask me tomorrow.” Because then he’ll know he means it, that it’s actually something Blaine wants.

And if it turns out he doesn’t? Sebastian can learn to live with that. He’s almost lost Blaine once in his life, had resigned to the fact that they’d never be more than friends when he watched him marry Kurt on Dalton’s staircase.

He knows exactly how to handle rejection.

Blaine holds his gaze and nods softly and it feels a lot like a promise.

Sebastian tugs the sheets up as he settles down into bed, motioning for Blaine to turn the nightstand light off. Once he does, Blaine wastes no time to close the space between them, his face finding the taller’s shoulder as his arm winds around his waist. Sebastian lets out a long sigh that flutters into Blaine’s loose curls, his hands rubbing up and down his back in a calming, circular pattern.

It doesn’t take long for Blaine’s breathing to even out against his neck and despite the early hour, Sebastian lies awake for a little while longer just to memorize the sensation.

\--

The alarm clock goes off far too early, even with multiple snoozes and eventually Sebastian knows he has to pull the covers back and start the day. He leaves Blaine in bed when he goes to shower but he’s not there when he gets out, finding him in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee after getting dressed.

“What, no breakfast?” Sebastian teases as he opens up the fridge for the juice, pouring himself a cup.

Blaine smiles as he sits at Sebastian’s kitchen table, one of his knees pressed against his chest as he holds a cup of hot coffee between his hands. “Don’t push your luck.”

He pouts for dramatic effect before he glances at the time—he doesn’t have much of it anyways for a big breakfast. A yogurt or something will have to do. He pulls out another one for Blaine in case he wants it and sits down at the table next to him, grabbing a few spoons and fresh strawberries to cut up and throw in.

He can feel Blaine’s eyes on him, lazy hazel tracing his movements before he finally meets his gaze with patient green. “You feeling better?”

Blaine nods softly, running his thumb over the rim of his mug before he sets it down on the table. “Yeah, I’m still really tired but I guess that’s what happens when you have dating disasters at three AM.” He licks his lips, visibly swallowing, “About last night…did you mean what you said?”

Sebastian tears open his yogurt, trying to give his hands something to do. “Which part?”

“All of it.”

He licks his lips, putting his spoon down so he can give Blaine his full attention. “Yeah, I meant it. I always mean it when it comes to you.”

There’s something overwhelmingly warm in Blaine’s expression, the realization of being _seen,_ for maybe the first time in a while. He doesn’t expect it even though he sees it coming, Blaine leaning over the table and planting a kiss on him.

It’s gentle and desperately too short—so when Blaine tries to pull away, Sebastian won’t let him. He grabs onto his arm, tugging, Blaine moving as the chair skids across the kitchen floor until he’s straddling his lap. His body is warm and solid against his own, Blaine smiling down at him with bright eyes, pretty lashes, and soft curls. He leans down for another kiss, already following Sebastian’s thought process.

And the long dance between them is done.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!


End file.
